Murder Trial Gun Question???

[koiboy]

Hi, this question relates to the murder of a Brit in Aus, who was shot and then a gun was put to his girlfriend's head, any expert help please?

If a hand gun was fired once, on a fairly cold night, and about 20 seconds later that same gun was put to another person's head, would that person, without doubt, feel the heat of the barrel?
Would it depend on the actual type of handgun?

I have heard conflicting opinions, one person said that he has to fire all six in his USP before it is hot, and another say one shot is sufficient to feel the heat. The gun that was used was described as a silver barrelled western style gun, but has never been found.

Many thanx, in anticipation, Koiboy

[grammaton76]

One thing to consider - most folks only feel the heat of the OUTSIDE of the barrel. If the barrel is being pressed to her head, she's likely to feel the heat of the center of the barrel, which is likely to be much hotter.

[461]

A lot would depend on the caliber of weapon. A "silver barrelled western style gun" could be chambered in anything from .22lr (or recently .17) to .454 Casull and anything in between. Different rounds definitely produce different heat levels.

[11Z50]

Based on what you've told me so far, I'd say no, the barrel would not be hot enough to feel. The noise would be more likely to wake her up.

[koiboy]

Based on what you've told me so far, I'd say no, the barrel would not be hot enough to feel. The noise would be more likely to wake her up.

They were flagged down, the man, Peter Falconio, got out to see what the motorist had seen at the back, she heard a noise like an engine backfire, and soon afterwards she had a gun pointed to her head, thru the window. She eventually escaped.
She did not remember if it felt hot. Most people seem to presume it would be hot enough for her to remember, I'm on the fence with this one, I know nothing about guns. Who better to ask than gun owners?
Thanks for your input. Seems to depend on more factors than I can give!

[11Z50]

OK, you got my curiosity going. It is about 45 degrees F outside my house right now. I just took my Colt .38 outside and fired a round. (Don't worry, I live in the country) I cleared the weapon, and pressed the muzzle to my palm. Not even warm. I'd say that is more than likely that the lady would not have felt a hot muzzle, even if it was pressed to her head.

[koiboy]

OK, you got my curiosity going. It is about 45 degrees F outside my house right now. I just took my Colt .38 outside and fired a round. (Don't worry, I live in the country) I cleared the weapon, and pressed the muzzle to my palm. Not even warm. I'd say that is more than likely that the lady would not have felt a hot muzzle, even if it was pressed to her head.

I'm not worried, I live across the Atlantic a bit, near Heathrow UK. To be honest, I got shot down on this question, took the mickey out of, we say in the uk, or another term you might be familiar with, for repeating that an Aus had said the same thing as you have, We just do not have a gun culture here, I don't know a soul who has anything more than an air rifle. However the hardened criminals have them in some cities.
Thanks for your help, keep safe
ps cleared the weapon, meaning you fired all 6?

[Tyler]

He meant that he fired once. Then checked to make sure the gun was empty before placing it to his hand. Cleared is the process of making sure a gun is safe and free of any rounds, also known as bullets, in the barrel or magazine.

[Turbinator]

He meant that he fired once. Then checked to make sure the gun was empty before placing it to his hand. Cleared is the process of making sure a gun is safe and free of any rounds, also known as bullets, in the barrel or magazine.

C'mon, you know better than that!

Rounds = ammunition = ammo

Rounds <> bullets

Bullets = projectile

Also rather than say in the "barrel," which technically would be a blockage if the bullet were still in the barrel, the proper term is "round in the chamber" or in this particular case, rounds in the cylinder.

Turby

[PanzerAce]

Rounds <> bullets

I think you mean Rounds =/= bullets

And dont be so sure that it would be 'rounds in the cylinder', after all, what if he only loaded up one round for this test (what I would do atleast)?

[scott.cr]

A cold barrel pressed to one's head might be psychosomatically thought to be hot.

Take a cold clothes iron. Walk up to someone and say it's hot, you JUST unplugged it. Then touch it to their back and check the reaction.

[Charliegone]

What I think he means by clear the weapon is he checked to see if no rounds(bullets) were left in the chamber, cylinder what ever and than pressed it against his palm. I think under the circumstances that koiboy posted it would be pretty difficult to determine whether she felt it was hot or not. In other words...

what kind of gun was it? what bullets was the person using?

Scott has a point what about the pyschological effect?

If the gun used was similar to 11z50's than she probably would have never felt it warm.

[Tyler]

I know what they should be called, but one must write for ones audience, my audience being a person that has never even held a gun. Such a person would call all handgun ammo, bullets. And I would be surprised if they knew where the guns chamber is located, so again barrel was used to help a person with no gun knowledge understand what I was talking about.

C'mon, you know better than that!

Rounds = ammunition = ammo

Rounds <> bullets

Bullets = projectile

Also rather than say in the "barrel," which technically would be a blockage if the bullet were still in the barrel, the proper term is "round in the chamber" or in this particular case, rounds in the cylinder.

Turby